Page 1 of I Had a Threesome With Santa Claus

Chapter 1

Holly flipped open the next box on her advent calendar and pulled out a little chocolate bar filled with peanut butter. It provided a small dose of dopamine before she headed into work. She wasn’t even sure why she had bought the silly childish activity. Did continuing this tradition even make sense without her mom?

Holly had no idea what prompted her to pick up the calendar this year when she hadn’t in any of the last few. When her mom was still alive, they would always pick out the silliest advent calendar they could find. Even after Holly had grown up and moved three states away, they continued the tradition, buying the same calendar and video-calling before work in the morning so they could open it together.

The last calendar they had completed was wacky Christmas socks. Each morning that December, they giggled while they put on their socks, which clashed comically with Holly's business attire, while her mom always managed to find an equally gaudy set of scrubs to match. Her mom’s favorite was a pair of green and red striped ones with bells hanging off of them. Holly would groan whenever they made its annual appearance. "It's for the kids!" her mom would insist, laughing. Her mom loved her job, but Holly knew the silly outfits brought her as much joy as it did the kids she cared for. Being a pediatric nurse could be difficult. Seeing children in the worst possible circumstances could get really depressing, but her mom managed to bring in so much joy every single shift.

Holly hadn’t been able to bring herself to start an advent calendar alone the last few Christmases, but this year she was shopping with her friend when she came across this one. It was shaped like a house with a green and red striped roof, each day had a little window to open that contained a chocolate bar, the final day was a door that had a tiny bell hanging off it. The calendar reminded her so much of those stupid socks her mom loved she couldn’t help but to pick it up. It was called The Healing Your Inner Child Christmas Advent Calendar. A pang of grief hit her and before she knew it, Holly had put it in the cart and checked out without giving it a second thought.

Each slot contained a different kind of chocolate candy with instructions scrawled inside the wrapper. So far, the tasks had been pretty easy. The first one was filled with nougat and challenged her to color a Christmas picture. So, she picked up a box of crayons on her way home from work and did a quick search online for a downloadable coloring sheet. She chose an intricate picture of a wreath and was surprised at how much she had enjoyed the simple act. She ended up coloring two more pictures that week.

The day after she colored that first picture, her assistant, Ashley, found an extra wreath while decorating the office and insisted Holly take it home with her. The single wreath looked so pathetic as the only decoration, so that night she decided to drag the big box of decorations out of the attic and decorated her whole house the same way she had done while her mom was still alive.

One morning, a peppermint chocolate bar instructed her to drink a hot chocolate. She didn’t have any in the house so she ran over to the coffee shop by her house on her way to run some errands. When she reached for her wallet to pay for the drink, the barista said that the person who’d been ahead of her in line had already paid for it. She turned to thank them for the drink but they were already out the door. Their hat was pulled down low so she couldn’t see them well but she could have sworn she glimpsed one of their ears…and thought it looked pointy.

The next day, a plain milk chocolate bar told her to go look for Christmas lights. She thought about it all day, trying to figure out a good place to go after work, but by the end of the day she was exhausted and just wanted to go home. On her drive home, however, she saw the residents on the street just before hers were all outside. She stopped to ask what was going on and was surprised to learn the neighborhood had decided to have a Christmas light competition. The residents organizing it asked if she would be interested in being a judge for the competition and later Holly found herself walking down that very street in a Christmas sweater with the other “judges” trying to pick her favorite display.

This Christmas had definitely felt more festive, though she couldn’t figure out if that was because she was noticing all these magical things around her for the first time, or if something was different about this Christmas in particular.

Holly's thoughts drifted back to the present as she popped the creamy peanut butter filled chocolate in her mouth and smoothed out the crinkled paper to read it clearly: Write a letter to Santa…

Hmmshe thought,I don’t think I’ve written a letter to Santa since I was 7 years old. I don’t even know what to ask for.

Holly left the wrapper on the counter and finished getting ready for work.

Chapter 2

Holly hadn’t been at her desk for ten minutes before Miriam popped her head over the cubicle wall.

“Holly, you have to come help me. Everyone on the holiday planning committee is terrible at it,” she exclaimed. “It hasn’t been nearly as good since you left. Last year was such abore. I mean that was the lamest gift exchange I’ve ever done. Most people gave away who their Secret Santa was before the party even started.”

“I don’t know, Mir, you know I just haven’t been the same about the holidays since mom passed,” Holly sighed. “It’s a lot. I mean she always was so into Christmas and we did so much together.”

“I know, I know,” Miriam replied. “But this year you’ve seemed so much happier, like you got your Christmas spirit back. I think doing that advent calendar has honestly really helped you. What is it having you do today?”

“Today,” Holly declared, “I’m writing a letter to Santa.”

“Oh wow,” her friend exclaimed, walking around the desk to stand next to Holly. “I haven’t done that since I was a kid, like a really little kid. That calendar wasn’t kidding when it said inner child. What are you gonna ask for?”

“I don’t know,” said Holly. “There isn’t anything I really want. Besides it’s not like I’m going to get anything. It’s just something silly and fun to do.”

Miriam rolled her eyes, “I know, but you’resupposedto be healing your inner child and all that. Ask for something you really want. Anyway, I’m in desperate need of coffee so let’s take a break and we can discuss the Christmas party while we get some.”

“I haven’t agreed to help with that yet and we just got here.” Miriam made a pouty face at her and Holly raised her hands in defeat. “Fine let’s go get coffee and I will consider helping with the party,” she said, standing and stretching her arms. Miriam let out a whoop and linked her arm in Holly’s as they set off to the coffee shop.

Moments later, the two women stood in their favorite corner shop, listening to the sound of whirring machines and clinking coffee mugs.

“You know,” Miriam said while they waited in line to place their orders. “You could ask for an experience instead of an item in your letter to Santa. Write out your dream vacation or something like that.”

“Now there’s an idea,” Holly stepped up to the counter to order, where their usual barista, Cole, greeted them with a smile.

“Your usual today Holly?” he asked.

“Please,” Holly returned his smile as she handed him her card, blushing when his fingers brushed hers. She could feel his gaze lingering on her as she stepped aside to let Miriam take her place.

Once they moved over to the pick-up counter to wait for their drinks, Miriam leaned over. “Maybe you ask Santa for his number,” she said in a low voice, nodding towards Cole, “since you won’t get it yourself.”

Holly blushed, and glanced at Cole’s back as he busied himself at the espresso machine. She couldn’t deny she enjoyed the view. He was taller than her with beautiful dark curly hair she just wanted to run her fingers through.

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